Blue Jays agree to five-year, $58 million extension with catcher Alejandro Kirk
It has been far from business as usual for the Blue Jays this off-season, as the high-profile contractual status of Vlad Guerrero Jr. continues to hang over the franchise.
But general manager Ross Atkins has secured the certainty of another 26-year-old core player by agreeing to a five-year, $58 million US extension with catcher Alejandro Kirk.
The news broke late Saturday by Robert Murray of Fansided as the team prepares to wrap up Grapefruit League play on Sunday before shipping north to Toronto for Thursday’s season opener.
Kirk, the Tijuana, Mexico native, who was due to hit free agency following the 2026 season, shifted into the primary catcher’s role when Danny Jansen was dealt at last summer’s trade deadline.
He has long been admired by the team’s pitchers for his uncanny ability to frame and steal strikes while on offence, he has provided flashes of power during his career. Kirk is about to embark on his sixth, and most important season with the Jays.
The Jays depth at the position is frightfully thin with the exit of Jansen and the 2022 trade of highly-regarded Gabriel Moreno to Arizona in a deal that brought Gold Glove centre fielder Daulton Varsho to the Jays. But the front office and coaching staff has long identified Kirk as the team’s starting backstop going forward.
This spring, the team has been particularly pleased with Kirk’s improved physical condition and his preparation for what is a pivotal 2025 season for the Jays. To help with that process, Kirk spent a good portion of the winter at the team’s player development complex in Dunedin, a shift from previous oft-seasons where he wintered in his native Mexico.
The move has paid off on a couple of fronts: First, his performance during a strong spring and now with the monetization in the form of a significant extension.
“Kirk has) elite mental attributes,” team president Mark Shapiro said in a meeting with media in Dunedin this past week. “He reminds me of other great players I’ve seen. He is as good as it gets in receiving (pitches) and is a really good thrower as well.”
According to multiple reports, the extension covers the 2026-2030 seasons. Kirk previously avoided arbitration and will earn $4.6 million US in 2025. According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsend, the extension includes a $6 million US signing bonus.
Where the Kirk signing can really pay off is if his bat returns to the form that earned him a Silver Slugger award in 2022 when he hit to a .285 average with career highs in home runs (14) and RBI (63). Offensively, the team has added the home run power of Anthony Santander over the winter, but it’s just a start. More improvement needs to come internally and Kirk is a candidate to fall into that camp.
Kirk is one of a handful of Jays hitters who seems to have benefitted from the work of new hitting coach David Popkins this spring.
The extension renews the commitment of Jays owners Rogers Communications to spend to build a contender.
“One of the things that separates Kirk is his poise,” Jays general manager Ross Atkins told reporters in Dunedin back in February. “He’s incredible under pressure. You see that in his blocking and receiving skills in really intense moments.
“As he continues to get stronger, he really could be one of the better players in the game.”
With the Kirk business now out of the way, will the Jays shift their negotiation focus back to Guerrero? While it’s unlikely an agreement is reached prior to Thursday’s opener against the Baltimore Orioles, Shapiro said last week that it remains a priority.
“We’d like to keep him here,” Shapiro told the Toronto Sun in an interview. “The underlying positive at the foundation is that he wants to remain a Blue Jay for his career – genuinely and authentically.
“I believe that and we want him to be a Blue Jays. He has a chance to be the greatest position player in the history of the franchise.”
